1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming job managing apparatus, a method for managing image formation, a program for the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to an image forming job managing apparatus, a method for managing image formation, a program for the same capable of realizing a process management apparatus for a printing system configured to output (print and bind) a document.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a conventional service known as “copy service” or “printing service” in which, in response to an order placed by a client, a predetermined number of copies of a predetermined document is produced and bound in a predetermined style.
When a request for such a printing operation is made, the client mails a document recorded on paper or an electronic medium (flexible disk (FD), magneto-optical disk (MO), compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) or the like) to a company providing the printing service (i.e., service provider) together with a print instruction including information such as the number of copies to print, the binding style, and the delivery date (this process may be referred to as “new document submission”). There is also a submission system provided by service providers through the Internet in which the user can submit an electronic document using, for example, a browser program. Furthermore, there is a system in which the client can contact the service provider by, for example, telephone to assign a document that has been previously printed and stored by the service provider and the number of copies to be reprinted (this process may be referred to as “repeated submission”).
When the service provider receives various orders from specified and unspecified users, the service provider determines the processing order and the processing schedules of these orders (work assignment, scheduling) on the basis of the number of copies to be produced, the delivery date of the copies, and limitations on man power and material resources. Then, according to the determined schedule, the submitted document is read with a copy machines or a scanner (when the document is a hard copy) or printed out with a printer connected to a personal computer (when the document is an electronic document). The produced copies are checked, collated, and, finally, delivered to the client.
However, such a scheduling method for work assignment is not always efficient. In particular, when a problem occurs during any of the steps in the document production process has to be rescheduled, requiring many extra man-hours by the persons involved with the job. To solve such a problem, process management apparatuses configured to automatically determine work schedules and to assign work to the appropriate personnel are currently in use.
An example of such a known printing process management apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-40099. Here, the process management apparatus has a resource assignment function in which jobs to be processed are stored in queue and processed in order of priority.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-63003 discloses a process management apparatus having a job assignment function capable of assigning jobs, if necessary, to a plurality of resources so that distributed processing can be carried out for the jobs while taking into consideration the availability of the resources used for processing and the delivery date of the product.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-63004 discloses a process management apparatus having a function that allows the schedules concerning the entire printing system to be grasped intuitively and allows the processing dates of the printing jobs or the object to be processed to be changed by intuitive operation.
The aforementioned known process management apparatuses described above have disadvantages in that, when a job that has to be processed urgently is received once a schedule is assigned appropriately, the entire schedule has to be manually reassigned or, even when the job is assigned to a plurality of resources for processing, the delivery date may have to be to be postponed. Such problems may be solved by placing priority on urgent jobs. However, each time an urgent job is received, the priority of the job must be set, causing a reduction in the work efficiency.